Chucao Tapaculo Scelorchilus rubecula

Chucao Tapaculo Scelorchilus rubecula

Chilean name: Chucao

Chucao Tapaculo, Puyehue N.P., Chile, November 2005 - click for larger image

Puyehue National Park, Chile
November 2005

The Chucao Tapaculo is distributed in south Chile and adjacent areas of Argentina. It is found in southern beech Nothofagus forest where there are stands of Chusquea bamboo.

It is mainly terrestrial though I did see it hopping up onto bushes occasionally. They are skulkers but every now and then one runs across or along a path with its tail cocked in the air.

I was particularly keen on getting a photo of this very attractive bird but was getting increasingly frustrated. I could hear them calling quite frequently and would go in search of my bird to no avail. On returning to my wife she said, on at least two occasions, "I saw that robin like bird again. It was standing out in the open for a minute or so.".

Eventually I found my bird but it was so dark in the undergrowth that my automatic focus wouldn't work so I had to focus manually. Fortunately one or two shots came out quite well.

Back to Index

If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.